Loose Lips Sink Ships

I realized I never put up the whole image of my Kappa or my other Japanese Sea Monster pieces! Here's my Kappa complete with children swimming nearby unaware to the danger that lurks below.

Here's another one of my favorite sea monsters: the Umibozu. Not to be confused with an umiboshi (a delicious Japanese pickled plum)

Very little is known of this illusive, enormous sea monster. They are said to dwell in the oceans off the coast of Japan and will capsize the boats of those who dare to speak to it. It's name, meaning sea monk, is probably due to its bald, shiny head. Some people believe they are the angry spirits of dead monks, and sometimes they will appear to shipwreck victims or fisherman. One account claims they will ask for a barrel and then use it to sink the ship. The only way to insure survival is to give them a bottomless barrel. Another account claims they posses powerful tentacles and can shoot fireballs out of their eyes! Few people have seen the Umibozu and lived to tell the tale... so if you do see one look the other way and pretend you don't notice it!

The Raspberries Taste Like ...

Hello! It's been quite a heat wave up here in Providence... I've been holed up in the studio with the door closed and the AC blasting, with that being said I still got finished my drawing for this week! A lot of the veggies were repeats so I focused on what I was most excited about... RASPBERRIES!!!!

I also took this as an opportunity to make a still life with my my collection of ceramics I brought back from Japan. I'm a sucker for bowls, especially tiny ones. I banged out this drawing pretty fast and I might do another one to celebrate other veggies we got in the share. We will see!

Veggie line up!

The weather this past week has been hot, hot, hot! But it hasn't stopped the veggies from getting big and delicious. This week's batch of scallions, chard and kohlrabi were all noticeably bigger than last week.

I've never had fava beans... but I'm excited to give them a try! This week I painted the veggies on top of our kitchen table. Robin's parents kindly gave us the table when we moved into our apartment and it is one of my favorite pieces of furniture. The top is metal with this kind of kitschy design. It's fantastic for rolling out cookies and pie dough. Anyways, it seemed like an appropriate back drop for the veggies!

Beets!

This week we got beets! Last night I made a tasty salad of roasted beets, goat cheese and walnuts with cooked beet greens and onion tossed in some red wine vinegar and olive oil. Tasty! The beets were very tiny but also very delicious!

I decided to make my life harder by drawing these all in baskets... I will not be doing that again! I'm already plotting what to do with the rest of these veggies. (The sugar snap peas are long gone) I think I'm going to make a pesto with the garlic scapes this week to eat over pasta and maybe throw the chard in there too!

Meanwhile, I decided to add some more pages to my Tsukiji fish book. This week and last I've been drawing and cutting out tiny pieces of paper. Also, I've started on the writing! I'm tying up quite a few loose ends (from projects started in Japan) I'm hoping after I'll have the momentum needed to put up my website.

CSA Hurray!-week 1

I generally try to be supportive of local business; coffee shops, book stores, cheese stores and of course local artists! I also eat and enjoy cooking veggies so when a friend asked me to share a CSA I couldn't say no! I've been waiting eagerly since then to pick up my first week of CSA shares. (CSA =Community Supported Agriculture ) basically it means that after making one big payment I will have fresh veggies each week from now until October! Allie and I went to pick up our first weeks share yesterday and I felt the need to draw my half of the vegetables.

Sooooo if all goes according to plan I will be drawing my veggies and fruit each week. I've never seen this purple kohlrabi before but I've read its good in a slaw and the garlic scapes make a fine pesto. I look forward to the challenge of finding tasty things to make with all my veggies. If your interested in getting your own and your in the Providence area I think they still have shares! Check out Ledge Ends Produce! In addition to the regular CSA shares they have other special ones you can add too like fresh corn and they will be at many of the Fabulous Farmer's Markets in the area. Yay veggies!

Naoshima

I've fallen behind in my posts again! I have a lot of new work to post, but I also have some awesome photos from some of my favorite places in Japan. Today I have photos from Naoshima; which is a small Island located between Honshu (the biggest island) and Shikoku (the smallest). My Aunt and I traveled to and around Shikoku for a week and spent a fantastic day on Naoshima. My art teacher recommended this island because it has 2 art museums as well as a series of old houses that have been transformed into installations. Shikoku has some of the best mikan I've ever tasted so we kept buying bags of them and eating them. Here are some growing on a tree.

We took one of the first morning ferries from Takamatsu (where we were staying) and headed to the island. With the help of some nice Japanese people we rented some bikes. The island was pretty easy to navigate with one main road that looped around the perimeter of the island. we made our way to the art houses. The installations had a very wide range in subject matter and materials. Here's one of my favorites.

Details from the houses we visited

These houses were a series of traditional houses and spaces that were no longer being used. The artists were asked to create installations within the spaces and alter the original structure.

The art house project as well as the museums on Naoshima are part of a campaign to bring art and tourism to these islands. As someone who is not Japanese there were times while living in Japan that I felt I was missing the point. (being a tourist in Japan can be frustrating with the lack of English signs and my poor knowledge of Japanese history)A few of the houses fell into that category but most of them did translate and were really fun to experience with my Aunt! We stopped near one of the houses at a small cafe and shared some dessert and coffee. It came with a tiny cup of cream and sugar and a biscuit.

Our dessert was red beans and different types of jelly with a syrup you could pour over the whole thing. It was light and fruity tasting!

We continued on our way and checked out the last installations. This piece was a Shinto shrine and perhaps the most beautiful of the series. These steps that look like ice were made of the same type of glass that camera lenses are made of.

I liked this sign too! The only kanji I recognize on it are for mountain and fire... hmmm

We made our way around the island and road by the museums. These giant gourds are one of the big landmarks of the island so we went and photographed it just as the sun was setting. My aunt near the gourd!

Now that's a big gourd!

Sun setting as we biked back to the dock

And in the next post...
Photos and awesome posters from the Naoshima Bath! Complete with life size baby elephant!

Crap a Kappa!

What lurks in rivers, likes to eat pickles and is extremely difficult for me to scan? A Kappa!

I am in a fierce battle with our scanner... I've been powering through these monster drawings. Cranking out a new one each week! But now I'm having some technical difficulties with the scanner....uggghhh... more later!